Sermon Tone Analysis

Chosen and blessed by God

So we start our journey into the sufficiency of Christ, the riches of Christ!

Part one of the two movement journey is the doctrine (chapters 1-3).

Somethings to consider as we start this journey

When you think of riches what do you think of?

Compare that to the riches of God’s grace as we make this journey

You were chosen by God, why?

What are the results of being chosen and blessed by God?

(Illustration) - there is story of a pompous lawyer reading a client’s last will and testament to a group of greedy relatives (reminds me of scene from movie “the ultimate gift”).

The lawyer starts reading and it says “I, John Jones, being of sound mind and body, spent it all.”

When Christ wrote His last will and testament for His church, He made it possible for us to share in His spiritual blessings, spiritual riches.

He did not spend it all, He gave it all by paying the price for all on the Cross.

The resurrection made the inheritance of all riches of God’s grace available to us.

Today we are looking at

Blessings of the riches : the Aim

Blessings of the riches: From the Father

Blessings of the riches: From the Son

Blessings of the riches: From the Spirit

I. Blessings of the riches: The Aim

Without a doubt each book of the Bible has a theme, a message, an aim to it.

Genesis is book of beginnings, Matthew book of the kingdom; Philippians book of joy, Galatians book of freedom, John book of belief.

Ephesians is book of the Christian’s riches in Christ Jesus.

The source of our blessings: who is the source? he Father is our source

God the Father has made us rich “in” Christ Jesus - this happened when you were born again.

In Christ we have

Riches of God’s grace (Eph1:7; 2:7)

Think about that, “in” Christ we get to share in these riches

Riches of God’s glory (Eph1:18)

Riches that Paul prays for the Ephesians, and in turn us, to understand

Riches of God’s mercy (Eph2:4)

Riches that God has given and shown us!

And the unsearchable riches in Christ (Eph3:8)

Riches that are unfathomable, that we get to share with others.

The Scope of our blessings (Deu28:1-13; Php4:19; Act19:1-7; Rom8:9, 15-16)

Whereas the blessings that Israel received in the O.T. were a result of their obedience our are according to the riches in glory by Christ Jesus

The Father, the source of all blessings, made available through the Son are found through the Spirit.

It is important that we know that we have been provided the Spirit of God, so it is not surprising the question asked of the Ephesians in Act19:1-7 if they had received the Holy Spirit.

For without the Spirit, you are not saved.

Without the witness of the Spirit you cannot share, draw from the wealth of the Spirit that came through Christ from the Father the source of the riches

This brings us to:

The Sphere of our blessings (Lk16:8; Php3:20; Lk10:20, Eph1:2, 2:6 and 6:12)

According to the verse it is in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus

In the heavenlies not the worldly

Don’t be a son of this world, be a son of light who can enjoy all the riches in the heavenlies where our citizenship is (Php3:20) where our name is written (Lk10:20) where hrist is seated now

where we as believers, if you are a believer who has obeyed the gospel is seated

Remember we battle not with flesh and blood, but in the heavenlies, the place where our blessings are

As a Christian we operate in two spheres, the visible and the invisible, the physical and the spiritual.

Seated in the heavenlies but living in the physical now.

Let us now press on and look and some of the blessings we get from the Father, from the Son and from the Spirit.

II.

Blessings: From the Father

You are chosen, you are adopted, you are accepted.

Know, believe, receive the blessings from the Father.

You are chosen (Eph1:4, Jn15:16; Rom3:10-11; Lk19:10; Rom12:1; Php4:13)

Before the world was created, God had a plan, His plan was for the church, and you are the church if you are in Christ Jesus.

You can see this type of choosing in the choosing of the Apostle, and the sending of the Apostles so we can have the N.T. today.

You are the fruit of their calling, their labor.

They were chosen with a purpose, and the purpose is defined and empowered, for if we were left to our own devices

We hove no righteousness outside of Christ, we do not seek God outside of Christ.

God had a plan and God’s plan was Christ, who came to seek us (Lk19:10) us, the lost!

The purpose beyond salvation is to be holy and blameless.

In a society where everything is permissible, it is no different then the days of the kingdom of Israel where all did what seemed right in their own eyes.

- - - that was never God’s plan, it was not God’s given purpose.

His purpose is for His people, His church to be holy and blameless.

Holy: To be different, to be separate, to be set apart

We are to be different from the world, we are to be Christ like, set apart for His purpose and His glory and to live for His purpose.

Don’t be conformed but be transformed, transformed to be holy.

Blameless: meaning to be unblemished

From the Greek word “Amomos” and that is a sacrificial word meaning “unblemished” - so we are to be different, we are to be set apart, we are to be unblemished, living sacrificially for Him who gave it all for us so that we can have all His riches, all His blessings

You were chosen by the One who gave it all.

So don’t discount yourself, don’t use the ole cop out “I’m only human” for that is discounting what God said, what God did through Christ Jesus and it is minimizing what God promised.

or in another version

So may we live our lives daily sacrificially for Him, for the pattern of sacrifice is one of the blessings from the Father

God the Father sacrificed His own Son so we may be redeemed from our sins

God the Son redeemed us at the cost of His suffering, death, and resurrection all by the finished work on the cross

God the Spirit - the Spirit of adoption given, the seal applied that we have been redeemed, redeemed and set free!

You are adopted (Eph1:5; 2Pt3:9; Act2:23; Rom8:29-30; Eph1:11)

Predestined a word that has confounded and confused many.

God did not predestine anyone to hell, scripture is clear on that

This predestination is God’s plan from before time began to save sinful man.

This predestined is reminding the saved, the believers who are already in Christ what blessings they have in Christ and they were saved with a purpose.

Jesus fulfilled His purpose, predestined purpose on the cross (Act2:23) just as He predestined us!

All this so that we may know the rights of our future inheritance in Him

He works out all things after the counsel of His will because the Father has accepted us through the beloved.

He has accepted us (Eph1:6)

we are found acceptable by His grace which He bestowed on us by Christ sacrifice we can be recipients of God’s grace and God’s blessings.

Not just grace but the riches of His grace, God’s grace that made us acceptable by Him, the One who gave it all brought blessings to His too.

III.

Blessings: From the Son

The riches of His grace comes from the work of all three parts of the Godhead, Each part has a part to play, first in our salvation and then in our ministry (serving).

He redeemed us (EPh1:7; 1Pt1:18-19)

Easton’s Bible Dictionary shows redemption is the purchase back of something that had been lost, by payment of a ransom (Greek word: apolutrosis) so, in other words a price paid.

In a time where over 40% of the population the the Roman providences, about 60,000 were slaves there would be lots of redemption's that would have.

Some of them were purchases to set the slave free.

That is what Jesus did, paid the price with Is blood.

As a slave we would be poor, but as the redeemed we are rich because of His grace because the blessings of the Son bring forgiveness.

We are forgiven (Eph1:7; Psm103:12; Jn1:29)

Divine forgiveness, restorative forgiveness.

God’s restoration of relationship entailing the removal of the object of guilt.

Forgiveness for the offense against God’s holiness (Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary).